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Khortex Incorporated
Khortex Incorporated was a Terran multinational defense contractor, starshipbuilder, cybernet communications provider, installations and terraformation company headquartered in Paris-London, Earth. For over three hundred years its four subsidiaries consistently placed among the top ten largest companies in the galaxy, with Khortex Fleet Systems serving as a seemingly inshakeable monarch of the corporate realm as the galaxy's largest corporation for centuries. The company in fact served largely as a binding umbrella for its four subsidiaries, which formed its true core of operations: Khortex Fleet Systems, Khortex Armament Systems, Khortex Communications Systems, and Khortex Terraformation and Installations Systems. In 526, Khortex International Banking Corporation, a fifth arm of the company was founded. Each subsidiary was owned solely by a member of the Khortex family; no stock in the company was ever traded publicly. Although Khortex was primarily focused on its role as a defense and government contractor, it served the open and corporate markets at various levels as well. Founded previous to the Meeting, Khortex was one of the primary contractors enlisted by the Terran Confederacy to construct a planetary defense fleet when first contact with the Sezhri race was imminent. Its involvement there, as well as its pioneering in the development of laser firearms (along with Colt Defense), led to its rise to corporate power. Although it was always at or near the forefront of defense contracting, it grew even more following the AI Rebellion, when it was heavily involved in aiding international reconstruction. The usurper Caria Selronis attempted to shut down and seize certain elements of Khortex during the War of Redemption, but met with virtually no success. Khortex was a major participant in the Corporate Wars from 598-9, when it fought two other factions for control of the planet Bacchus and its rich resources. After the conflict's conclusion, its ally, the Vaprin Gas Mining Corporation, received mining rights for a significant percentage of the planet due to Khortex's influence. History Founding and Early History Khortex began as a small firm in the early twentieth century AD, before first contact between Humanity and Sezhri, before even the knowledge of other sentient life. It attempted to break into the projectile firearms market without much success, putting a few designs into production and later attempting to sell them to larger firms. Its breakthrough came when Colt Defense produced the first practical, personal laser firearm. Its development inspired those at Khortex into following in its footsteps, and it very quickly began to excel in its new field. Soon it was Earth's top supplier of laser weaponry, and it was this distinction that led the secretly-formed Terran Confederacy to ask for its involvement in the development and construction of a planetary defense fleet. First contact between Humanity and the Sezhri opened up entirely new markets for Khortex, and business and profit increased on a nearly exponential level in the following fifty years. In 46 NE the company officially split into its four sub-corporations to focus more efficiently on its various areas of expertise. Khortex Terraforming and Installations Systems (KTIS) was contracted in conjunction with several other firms to terraform Mars, and the result was the first fully successful transformation of a world into one fully habitable by sentients. It was also the only terraformation in history to incorporate the insertion of an artificial gravity generator into the core of the planet. This was done so as to bring its gravity up to a level nearly equal with Earth's, thus making its colonization much easier and more natural for Human and Sezhri inhabitation. For further historical information, see main articles on each sub-corporation: Khortex Fleet Systems; Khortex Armament Systems; Khortex Communications Systems; Khortex Terraformation and Installations Systems. Rivalry with Bralakk Shipyards Almost from the day Humanity and the Sezhri met, Khortex itself and then Khortex Fleet Systems have in turn maintained an intense competition with Bralakk Shipyards, the largest Sezhri defense corporation and the designer of such legendary ships as the ''Vuran-karo'' Battle Dreadnaught and the ''Ciltrí'' Heavy Frigate. Both companies have consistently developed warships and civilian craft alike of similar purpose, often putting them on the market within weeks or even days of each other. It is widely acknowledged that Khortex holds its position as the galaxy's premier defense contractor only by means of its diversification, whereas Bralakk focuses solely on shipbuilding. No instances of corporate espionage have been discovered or documented, with prominent people in both companies commenting that such actions would do either company more harm than good. Succession of Ownership Khortex has been a family-owned business since its founding, but the ownership as it is currently is due to the company split in 46 NE. Each of the four siblings took control of one of the sub-corporations at that point, exercising absolute control over their branch, but each having a say in where company management and direction. Each successive CEO of each company grooms a successor in the later years of their life, someone who may or may not be a child or even a blood-relative. Any confirmed successor, however, adopts the Khortex name and is welcomed into the family as a full member. The current four Khortexes are the seventh generation in control of the company; Athena and Gareth are the only two of direct Khortex descent.